Role of the Visitor

Visitors are the people who assess the evidence and make recommendations to the NMC on approval as part of the quality assurance activity.

To be a Registrant Visitor, a person must be actively registered on one or more parts of the NMC register and hold a post-qualifying award in nursing and/or midwifery. They must also be currently working in a nursing and/or midwifery education and/or practice role and been involved in developing, delivering and providing student support for pre or post-registration nursing and/or midwifery education and/or practice within the past two years.

We ensure visitors have an in-depth understanding of the NMC standards for education and training and are able to provide an analytical and objective view when reviewing documentation and making recommendations to the NMC. We also consider knowledge of current issues impacting on healthcare and health education and an understanding of how educational and health needs differ with regards to equality and diversity matters to be important.

Our visitors have current or recent experience of overseeing, managing and/or assuring academic standards in a senior academic or professional support capacity, as well as experience in assessing students and conducting quality assurance activity, such as educational or clinical audits, reviews and/or investigations at senior level in an education institution or practice setting.

Visitors are assigned quality assurance activities for parts of the NMC register in which they hold registration and have a recorded qualification. They are required to follow the Reviewer and Visitor Code of Conduct which is part of QAA’s quality assurance standards. All Registrant Visitors receive training from QAA before starting quality assurance work.

Lay Visitors

Lay Visitors are members of the public who are not NMC registrants (that is, are not nurses or midwives). Lay Visitors enable the effective conduct of reviews by applying a non-specialist and service user perspective in a principles-based approach. This includes gathering, critically reading and evaluating evidence from an institution and practice learning partner; pursuing lines of enquiry; engaging with the institution; and making clear, evidence-based conclusions.